CMA Ideas

Here’s what’s happening at CMA as we roll into a new year:

We are pleased to announce the promotion of Terence Bostic, Ph.D. and Jennifer Nguyen, Ph.D. to Senior Vice President, Christopher Awad, Ph.D. and Jami Wolfe, Ph.D. to Vice President, and Henry Hummert, Ph.D. to Senior Consultant.

We’ve confirmed dates for our 2012-2013 Leadership Advantage program, which will kick off in the fall.

A warm welcome to our newest team member, Thor Welker, who joined support team in December.  We are also saying goodbye to Jay Lewis, MA, MBA, who is moving to a web strategy position at EverBank.

2011 was a great year at CMA, and we’re looking forward to an even better 2012.

Today, in the United States, women are the changing face of business.  Women not only have emerged as a majority of the U.S. workforce but now wield purchasing power in excess of $5 trillion.  They buy half of all computers, half of all cars, make more than 80% of all consumer purchases, and represent nearly half of all shareholders.

It is universally acknowledged that there is, and will be, a growing shortage of senior level employees as baby boomers exit the workforce.  Successful organizations must replace them with educated, knowledgeable talent.  Currently, women are now garnering 58% of university degrees and 44% of M.B.A. degrees – a significant and growing segment of the knowledge worker talent pool.  Recognizing this, some top companies, such as American Express, CISCO, Deloitte, Morgan Stanley, Intel, GE, and others, have initiatives that give high-performing women the skills and support to move into leadership positions.

It is not about diversity of gender but the diversity of thought, behavior, and style that is required to solve complex, global problems and accelerate innovation.  Management Research Group (MRG), a prominent firm specializing in the creation of behavioral assessment instruments for individual and organizational development, analyzed the leadership behaviors and styles of 900 pairs of men and women leaders.  They employed a matching procedure that assured any differences in leadership style were due to gender, not difference in organizational position or culture.  Each of the 1,800 was assessed using MRG’s Leadership Effective Analysis (LEA) instrument and in a 360º feedback process.  Results indicate there are differences between men and women’s approach to leadership in two major areas:

Task vs. Strategy

• - Women tended to be more task and results focused than men.
• - Men were more apt to take a strategic approach to leadership.

Expressiveness vs. Constraint

• - Women operate with more energy, intensity, and emotion, have a greater capacity to keep others enthusiastic and involved, demonstrate more concern for others, and are more involved in the development of others.

• - Men are more low-key, deal with issues in an objective manner, and use language that more effectively persuades and builds commitment for ideas and initiatives.

The 360º feedback data indicate that bosses see men and women as equally effective overall.  Peers and direct reports rate women as slightly higher than men in overall effectiveness.

In order for there to be a compelling reason to ensure diversity, companies need to define how diversity links to business results.  Late last year, McKinsey & Co. conducted its Global Executive Survey.  Seventy-two percent of respondents believe there is a connection between diverse leadership teams and financial success (up 12% from the 2009 survey).  Yet, only 28% had diversity as a top-ten agenda item.  It is not sufficient for an organization to only have a diversity policy.  People follow cultural norms and what they believe leadership wants.

Here are some general considerations for those who want to continue their advancement to higher leadership levels: develop skills in strategic analysis and planning; expand networks to develop a wider range of resources for knowledge and opportunities; see yourself as a leader; raise your hand, volunteer for assignments; accept risk as a part of opportunity; take ownership of your professional development; develop persuasive skills to sell ideas and gain support; seek out a mentor and senior advocate; be who you are – authenticity forms solid relationships.

There is no one right way to lead.  Companies will increasingly need diversity of leadership behavior and style to lead a multi-generational workforce, as global markets become more complex and competitive and new, diverse markets emerge.  Men and women need to value their differences and learn from each other.  It will be for their individual and collective benefit.

For over 35 years, CMA has provided professional services for the selection, development and retention of leaders at all levels.  To learn more, please contact Joe Hoffman or Dan Bean, partners at CMA.

For an article in the July issue of Small Business Monthly, CMA’s managing partner, Dan Bean, shared some perspectives on CMA’s place in the business community:

Today Bean strives to continue helping business owners through his consulting business and time he dedicates to giving back to the St. Louis community. “We provide St. Louis businesses with a variety of services to build their businesses,” he says. “These include assessments to acquire, manage and develop talent; organizational development to increase the capacity and capability of business to take care of clients; and strategic planning for public, private and family-owned businesses as well as nonprofits.”

Bean also supports entrepreneurs through free seminars. “We have a family business speaker series, which is a learning opportunity for family business owners and their advisers,” he says. “We sponsor St. Louis University’s Institute for Private Business that’s held in the John Cook School of Business, the St. Louis chapter of the Entrepreneurship Institute and the Organization Development Network. We have two to three graduate student interns to give back and develop students, round out their education, and help them effectively transition to the world of work. Personally, I serve on the board of the YouthBridge Community Foundation. Youthbridge supports three E’s for not-for-profits serving children: education, social entrepreneurship and endowment.”

View the full article at Small Business Monthly’s website.

In his blog at Harvard Business Publishing, Anthony Tjan argues that smaller organizations can often beat out their large competitors on customer service.  Common hurdles for large organizations include too much bureaucracy and complicated rules.  Scripted responses from customer service agents are especially problematic, as they often don’t convey the empathy needed to calm a frustrated customer.

Tjan offers Nordstrom as an example of a large company excelling at customer service, although he suggests Nordstrom may have modeled more of their business practices after small companies.  Either way, Spector and McCarthy’s The Nordstrom Way is a customer service guide that we recommend to clients in both large and small organizations.

Tjan hit the nail on the head in his conclusion:

“For my money, the two best customer-service practices are sincere empathy over indifferent calmness and common sense over standard operating procedure. These two simple guiding principles remind us how easy it can be to transform the customer experience, and how unfortunate it is that more businesses have not done so.”

One of our business analysis experts here at CMA, Ed Hamilton, encourages us to look for what he calls the “wow factor” – some way to go above and beyond to wow the customer.  Ed is a semi-retired gentleman who began his career in the computer and data processing services industry where he rose from Marketing Representative to VP of Marketing and Client Services for a $1.2 billion international company before serving as President and COO of an engineering and manufacturing company.  One anecdote he uses to help us understand the “wow factor” is a time when he and other members of his team paid a surprise visit to one of their client’s plants in the middle of the night to connect with members of the night shift and show their devotion to the client.

We strive to abide by these principles and wow our customers, and we encourage our clients to do the same with theirs and offer support to help them.

What do you do at your organization to provide outstanding customer service?  What do you do to wow your clients?

By Jen Nguyen, Ph.D.

Although technically a townie, I was raised in a rural area of southern Illinois flush with dairy farms, so my eye was drawn to an article in The New York Times recently entitled “Cows With Names Make More Milk.”  According to the article, researchers examined several hundred British dairies and collected milk output data.  They found that in a given year, cows with names produce about 258 liters more milk per farm than cows unnamed by their owners, an increase of about 6%.  The animal behaviorist behind the research stated, “The naming reflects the human’s attitude toward the cows and, therefore, how they behave around them.”  The implication is that cows that are given names are often treated nicely and that happier cows make more milk.

Obviously we’re a different species, but this finding caused me to ponder the effect of positive feedback and a caring attitude in work settings.  In my work as a management coach and an assessor of organizational culture, I can recall numerous appreciative comments when someone’s manager or supervisor showed an extra level of interest or attention.  Knowing a worker’s name, asking about the family, taking time to solicit opinions or ideas–all of these activities seem to have significant and positive impact for individuals in the workplace.  This did not necessarily mean that only warm and fuzzy comments were appreciated.  Many managers are respected for the fact that they can be direct and straightforward, AND, they take the time to provide feedback and advice.  There is ample evidence that workers who feel respected and appreciated for their efforts are motivated to produce, are better aligned with company goals, and are active in working toward these goals.

My favorite hometown dairy farm sign states “All we have, we owe to udders.”  In our human endeavors, part of our success and productivity often depends on the “udder” people around us.  Our work peers, the responses of our customers, the support or lack thereof from our supervisors–these factors can have a strong impact on how well we produce. I would be interested in your thoughts on how the comments or treatment you experience from your managers or your teammates impact on your productivity at work.  And, if you want to have a productive cow, be sure to give her a name.

By Henry Hummert, Ph.D.

We’re excited to be partnering with Enterprise Bank & Trust for upcoming business seminars in the St. Louis and Kansas City metro areas as part of the Enterprise University program.  All seminars are complimentary.  Registration is required and can be completed online.  Additional information available at the Enterprise University website.

March 15, 2011, 1:00-3:30pm

“Comprehensive Talent Management for Organizational Success”

Enterprise Bank & Trust
12695 Metcalf Ave
Overland Park, KS 66213

Talent Management is a holistic set of process to manage your organization’s most valuable asset, human capital.  Recruit and select the right people, manage their performance, develop to their potential, and retain them over the long term.  Talent Management is an enterprise-wide initiative that flows from the executive team to the entire organization.  Learn how to utilize the talent management model to diagnose your organization and move your human capital forward while connecting back to the strategic initiatives of your organization.

Instructors: Terence Bostic, Ph.D. and Kelly Reed, M.S.

April 26, 2011, 8:30-11:00am

“Comprehensive Talent Management for Organizational Success”

Eller Hall
Enterprise Bank & Trust
1281 North Warson Road
St. Louis, MO 63132

(see above for seminar content)

Instructors: Jennifer Nguyen, Ph.D. and Kelly Reed, M.S.

May 3, 2011, 8:00-10:30am

“Building a Culture of Integrity”

Eller Hall
Enterprise Bank & Trust
1281 North Warson Road
St. Louis, MO 63132

The recent accounting irregularities at Citigroup and Merrill Lynch along with those of Enron and WorldCom have created a renewed need to examine organizational integrity.  Understand how individual and situational factors can alter organizational integrity and lead employees toward or away from performing unethical behaviors.  Learn actionable tactics to change your organization into a culture of integrity whether you are a top leader in your organization or a mid-level manager.

Instructor: Dana Borchert, M.S.

The January 2011 edition of St. Louis Magazine includes a feature section called “Take This Job and Love It.”  The issue includes photographic tours of 7 Wow Workplaces as well as a list of creative job perks offered by 60 successful organizations in the area, many of whom we are proud to count among our clients.

Our own Terence Bostic contributed to Jeannette Cooperman’s article, “What do Workers Want?”, on page 52 in the print edition.  This is a critical question for business owners and managers to explore if they want to keep their employees engaged and productive.  Different people respond to different incentives and aspects of the organization’s culture.   Some employees place a premium on stability while others seek risk and challenges.  Some thrive in roles with clear systems and structures, while others prefer a higher degree of ambiguity and the freedom to pursue challenges in their own way.

Understanding what workers want puts you on a stronger footing.  In our own work at CMA, we use a range of questionnaires that help us match talent to specific roles and company cultures.  One of the key pieces we look for are those motivational drivers.

On October 14th, Bonnie Stoufer, Ph.D., VP of Talent Stewardship and Leadership Development for Ascension Health, gave an informative presentation on Ascension’s talent management system, including its role in leadership development and recruitment, the strategy behind the effort, and key challenges they’ve overcome.

Ascension Health is the nation’s largest non-profit and Catholic health system with over 113,000 associates serving over 500 locations in 20 states and the District of Columbia.  Dr. Stoufer is responsible for Ascension Health University and works closely with Chief Human Resource Officers and Learning Leaders from Ascension’s 28 different healthcare systems to develop solutions and practices that add value at the local level. Prior to joining Ascension Health, she was the Chief Learning Officer for Boeing Corporation, Managing Director for Global Learning and Development for Coca-Cola, EDS, and Delta Airlines.

The video includes 8 highlights and runs 11 minutes.   If you want to skip to a particular part, times are listed below the clip:

0:15 – Addressing the leadership void as baby boomers retire

1:08 – Developing a custom competency model

3:19 – Building talent profiles into a searchable database

5:07 – Uncovering strengths and development needs relative to core competencies

5:59 – Changing the mindset on mobility

6:54 – Using assessments to mitigate risk

8:14 – Expanding HR’s role

9:24 – Using Talent Management to appeal to Gen X/Gen Y

25 years ago, James Meindl and Sanford Ehrlich published a paper on “the romance of leadership,” our persistent and often irrational infatuation with leaders.  Even today as organizations grow flatter and the Wall Street Journal mourns The End of Management, our perception of leaders has not changed all that much.  You can still count on bosses to get too much credit when things go right and too much blame when they don’t.

Bob Sutton, a management professor at Stanford, argues that leadership style has ripple effects through an organization.  Whether a leader realizes it or not, behavior at the top tends to be carefully observed and mimicked by others in the organization. This can be especially problematic when there is disconnect between how bosses perceive themselves and how others perceive them.

Sutton recounts a time when an especially assertive VP was asked to spend 20 minutes brainstorming with five direct reports about potential new products.  After the exercise, Sutton asked the VP to estimate his contribution to the discussion.

The VP recalled:

• making 25% of the comments
  
• interrupting others 3 times
  
• being interrupted 3-4 times

Sutton’s tallies had the VP:

• making 65% of the comments
• interrupting others 20 times
• being interrupted 0 times
  

When asked to estimate these figures with the VP out of the room, the five direct reports did so accurately.

Every leader has strengths and weaknesses, but self-awareness is the single most important trait for an effective leader.  A self-aware leader can anticipate how a particular weakness may create problems, compensating by retaining the right people and resources.

Whether you are developing leaders within an organization or considering a new hire, look to those self-perceptions as key indicators for performance.  Effective leaders aren’t just those who drive hard toward organizational goals; they’re the ones with a deep understanding of what it’s like to work for them.

We hope you’ll join us for a complimentary seminar on October 14 with guest speaker Bonnie Stoufer, Ph.D., Vice President of Talent Stewardship, Leadership Development and Learning for Ascension Health.  RSVP online.
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CMA offers services including Talent Assessment and Development, Coaching, 360s, employee engagement surveys, and our Leadership Advantage program for companies operating both domestically and internationally.  For more information, contact Dan Bean or Joe Hoffman, or visit us on the web at www.cmaconsult.com.